UAE the top destination for token sales in 2019 as US plummets to eighth spot, finds Coinschedule report

The Kingdom of the United Arab Emirates [UAE] has overtaken the United States as the top location for the sale of digital assets. The Gulf country now accounts for over 25 percent of funds raised via token offerings, while the US accounts for less than 5 percent.

Coinschedule, the blockchain and cryptocurrency rating company released a report which stated that token sales in UAE notched up over $210 million. The United States, which took the top spot in the previous calendar year was bogged down to the eighth position in the first four months of the year, accounting for under $38 million in sales.

Source: CoinSchedule

Taking the second spot was the Cayman Islands, which held one-eighth of the total amount raised through token sales, a notable $103.75 million. The cryptocurrency havens of Singapore and Hong Kong followed up, with UK, South Korea, Canada and surprisingly, Zimbabwe, completing the list.

Interestingly, the UAE did not make the top-10 list last year. The United States’ significant drop can be attributed to the SEC’s regulatory pressure on Initial Coin Offerings [ICOs] and deeming tokens as securities, much to the dismay of the larger cryptocurrency community.

Alex Buelau, the CEO of CoinSchedule, in light of the above, told Bloomberg:

“We are seeing the continuation of the move away from the USA due to regulatory concerns.”

Coinschedule added that UAE’s performance in token sales is down to two notable sales. The first was GCBIB, the banking and insurance products development platform for virtual currency holders, which raised $142 million. Secondly, Bolton Coin, which raised $67 million allowing investment in cryptocurrency mining and real estate.

In terms of the number of token sales, Singapore tops the list, amassing 12 token sales in 2019 alone. The UK and the US take the second and third spot, hosting nine and seven token sales respectively, despite regulatory pressure. Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands, and the Netherlands also climbed up the list, with no place for the UAE in the top-10 list.

The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia has been looking to launch a digital currency tethered to their respective central banks that can be used for cross-border remittance payments. Aber, the touted digital currency has been in the works since December 2017, with only a limited number of national banks involved in the project.

The post UAE the top destination for token sales in 2019 as US plummets to eighth spot, finds Coinschedule report appeared first on AMBCrypto.

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